One Tale at a Time
by Ryu5253
Summary: Tails starts a Chao Shelter, and recieves unexpected help. Rated T for Safety. Relates to SA2/B Chao Garden. Somewhat OOC Tails. Currently unfinished, on hiatus.
1. Chapter 1

"Allow me to introduce myself." started the 20s-ish, amber kitsune who stood before me. "I am the director and co-founder here at the Chao Garden. We are a home for abandoned, abused, and orphaned chao. My name is-"

"I know who you are. Do you recognize me?" I asked, coolly standing to the side of the door. "Tails... It's been a while." His eyes went wide, he himself starting to tremble, albeit ever so slightly. "It's you. It's really you..." Tails said, staring with shock. "I never thought I'd see you again when you left, Amy."

"Well, yeah. What with the funeral basically splitting our friends-" I cut off, being pulled into a crushing bear hug that was ever so slightly scented with vanilla and a hint of almonds. He pulled away, remembering that we were in his business, after all, taking with him that smell. So why are you here?"

"I'm here to help volunteer, and if possible, maybe get a job?" I told, ending with a question.

"Sure, Amy. Any questions before i give you a tour then?"

"One, really. Who did you found this place with?"

"Oh, a certain Knucklehead. He'll probably remember you." Tails said rather detachedly, starting the tour.

"Knuckles? Starting a business? What?"

"I know, it sounds odd. He is a good businessman and is extremely proficient at raising and acclimating chao to their 'new' homes. Anyways, i have one question for you, Amy. What did you do in the last eight or so years?"

"Oh, nothing really... Interior Design here and there, a short time in real estate... But I want to kinda 'start over' back here, in Station Square"

"That can make sense. It can also turn out badly" he replied ominously. "Anyways, here is the Main Garden for the stray chao and ones that need special care." Tails unlocked the door, pushing it into the bright sunshine.

"Come here, Cash! I have your Chao Fruit!" Tails called out to a chao, who turned to reveal a singed face reminiscent of cracked leather. The little guy ran up, and upon receiving the fruit, immediately started to devour it, all the while being pet by his caretaker.

"This little guy fell into a small lamp, which caused some problems with the owner who was a nasty little guy with a bad temper. Cash's 'owner' couldn't care for him after that due to some legal issues and, after some tearful goodbyes, left him here. Cash can still see, talk and play like a normal chao, but his burn is permanent. The only thing that eases the pain in chao fruit. His 'owner' still visits every day to talk to, play with, and pet his chao buddy. That's a lot, because that happened about a year ago... Sorry for babbling. I tend to do that"

"It's ok. The only way for me to connect to chao is to know their stories, so..." I trailed off.

"So, with that, we're nearly done in this garden. I need to check up on Emmy, who i _really_ need to teach to swim." he said, wandering around the meadow area, me following.

Tails and I were running in circles, or it looked like it, at least, when he suddenly stopped, causing me to run into him. And when I say run into him, I mean crash into him. A tackle-like crash, knocking both of us down to the grass. I sat up, my head throbbing, and i saw him.

Emmy the chao. A hero chao with beautiful, brilliant wings like that of a phoenix's, bold eyebrows, and parrot feet. The only thing seemingly wrong with him, at first glance, was only an oddly positioned arm. On a second glance, one could discern that his left arm was detached from his shoulder, making for an awkward pose that scared the other chao away.

"Tails, what happened to him? And is it fixable by a corrective surgery?"

"Emmy's tale is a sad one. Born a stray chao, he and his siblings had to fight for survival, even fighting one another for food. That changed for him one night. A particularly vicious animal, one from a far-off land, and was illegally imported here, tore up his arm, almost mortally wounding him.

"The person who brought him in had been taking care of his numerous scars and was feeding him, and was unaware of his arm. The surgery needed to fix such a condition is near to here, but is costly. If I recall correctly, it was around 19,000 rings, which is more than what the shelter makes in a quarter."

At this, I started to shake. "What kind of animal hurt him?"

"I think it was called... uh... it was... ab... Absomething..."

"You mean Absol? I heard that, only if they are abused they would do something like that..."

"Yeah! It was Absol! Thanks for that. Now, I'm done tending to Emmy's arm. Which Garden do you want to go to next? There's Hero and Dark. It doesn't mean that there's only going to be hero in the Hero Garden and dark in the Dark. It's based on how they got here..."


	2. Chapter 2

We walked into the Hero Garden, only to be greeted by a chorus of delighted chao's cries. They were seemingly everywhere, multiple swimming, some eating, and others lounging around or sleeping. "This is where the chao who were cared for well are taken. Most of their previous 'owners' had passed, and left none to care for them. Like Starr for instance.

"Her 'owner' absolutely adored her, until that one day, four years ago. Starr was playing with a ball, and it was kicked into the street by a bully chao. She went to get it, and didn't see the car coming. Her 'owner', a good friend of mine, ran to her and pushed her out of the way. He took the full brunt of the force, almost instantly knocking him unconcious.

"He woke up in the hospital, told me what happened, and then was taken to surgery, on account of his broken leg. During the operation, he lost too much blood, and slipped into a coma. 6 months later, they pronounced him a vegetable. His will read that he didn't want to be one, so his parents gave the orders to pull the plug. We were both only seventeen at the time..." Tails was tearing up at this point.

I hugged him, trying to comfort him. Starr looked up, and flew onto both of us, while we were unsuspecting. Because we were standing so close, she shoved us into the pool, all the while grinning like a madchao.

Starr was not like the other chao who I had seen this far. She was perfectly healthy, but also a mature chao, unlike Cash, who wasn't even 6 months old. The only thing wrong with the picture was how she stood. she stood apart from other chao by her stance, which was like that of a tiger.

"Next is the Dark Garden. First, i need to get some supplies. Come with?" I had no choice. he led me through a series of halls, each one getting progressively darker. We stopped at a supply closet, one that held all kinds of chao medicine. "Most of these chao are slightly aggressive, so be careful. Oh, and by the way, i dislike the term 'owner' because it sin=gnifies that we are higher then the chao are."

"Same here." I answered. The supplies were gathered up, and he led me to the Garden.


End file.
